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Defiance (planet)
Star: Shannedam (K2 Orange Main Sequence) :Terran Registry: Stellar Chart #Z-171-223-637-19-A :Planetary System: 6 Planets; 7 Major Moons Defiance (12,767 km. dia.) - Zone #4 :1 Moon: ::1 Major: Redoubt (3,711 km. dia.) (formerly named Opal) :Orbital period: 0.81 years :::295.65 Standard Terran days :::293.18 local days :Surface gravity: .98 :Rotational period: 23.8 hours :Population: 3,979,000,000 ::Human 43% ::Naram 24% ::Baufrin 17% ::KessRith 12% ::Other 4%. Government Contested between TOG Occupational and Commonwealth Parliamentary. Defiance is the Commonwealth county seat for all of Shannedam County; as a result, most local government is eclipsed by the functioning of the county government. There is a local parliament that oversees the general disposition of day-to-day affairs on the planet. Representatives are elected to a planet-wide Chamber of Governors, who elect from their own number a Chamber of Honors. Those elected to the Honors serve only one eight-year term, and then are ineligible to ever serve again in elected office. TOG has imposed martial law over those places in which it has gained a foothold. The real power lies with the three planetary Barons, the heads of the houses Chance, Longacher, and Banturin; they oversee the administration of laws enacted by the parliament. Economy The staple of Defiance economy is its affiliation with The Tiven-Rilus-Ope'Diar Industrial Megaplex. As the chief consumer world in Shannedam county, and its main Commonwealth banking center, it is inseparably linked to the industrial might of the Megaplex. Politics is also a substantial industry on Defiance. It is one of the official residences of Grand Duke Massus, it is the seat of Shannedam county, it harbors the bureaucracies of three baronies, and it is home to the headquarters of the regional Royal army, navy, marine corps, and aerospace forces. With the size of its available work force vastly greater than on most of the county's other worlds, Defiance can produce finished products at lower prices than most other world's domestic industries. History Early in the Human resurgence that grew into the Commonwealth, Shannedam IV was freed from the KessRith. 6575 saw the last pockets of resistance thrown out of the Shannedam system. This gave the liberators some freedom to recover from their battling and plan for the future - a luxury denied other peoples still fighting to free themselves. Shannedam County was formed in 6582, and Shannedam IV was named the county seat. It is interesting to note that Shannedam is the only county-level representative to be a signatory to the peace treaty between the Commonwealth and the KessRith. This was due to the activities of anti-peace factions in the county (See Michaels' System Guide To Shannedam County, Peter Jameson ed., July 6825). In order to assure the KessRith they would comply with the treaty, the county was made a signatory. In 6683 the vast influx of refugees from the creation of the Terran Overlord Government sparked the so-called Refugee Riots. The planetary barons suppressed the riots by force, but trouble continued to brew. The County had enacted the Anti-Refugee Rights Act of 6685, but the parliament felt this was not sufficient and initiated a program of legal repression that lead to the Refugee Suppression Act of 6687 and the Armed Suppression Act of 6690. All of these were overturned by the Grand Duke in late '90. This was the darkest moment in Shannedam IV's history, but even then, in spite of the brutal repression, refugees poured into the County, and onto Shannedam IV. With the ruling of the Duke, the populace got a grip on itself and, while resentment still lingered, active anti-refugee sentiment and actions all but died away. The reversal was so total that in 6727, at the height of the Naram refugee wave that swept the county, not a single anti-refugee march took place on Defiance! The lack of anti-refugee sentiment was in large part due to the wave of prosperity brought about by the close association between Shannedam IV and the rising star of the Tiven-Rilus-Ope'Diar Industrial Megaplex. The economic boom this created turned Shannedam IV into a proverbial land of milk and honey, at least during the middle 68th century. TOG encroachment soon threatened the peace of Shannedam county. In 6809 the adjacent Keserdal County fell, and TOG began marshaling their forces for a new offensive. No one in the county or among Commonwealth officials questioned the location of TOG's next target. With the new year (6810) Shannedam IV became the rallying point for county defense. Most military leaders felt Thapsus would be the first world hit, and they prepared to launch a counterpunch early in order to destroy the beachhead as it formed. In 6811 the hammer fell, not on Thapsus, but Ancona. TOG, in one bold maneuver, put themselves within striking range of most of the county. Between 6811 and 6825, TOG launched a series of sequential attacks that mopped up half the county short of Syriph and Shannedam. Generally they met with easy success, excepting the tough Messana/Caralis pocket. The year 6829 spelled disaster for TOG. Unknown to them, Syriph XX was an advance supply base for the Renegade Legions in Shannedam county. The ill-fated assault that TOG forces launched led to the annihilation of the TOG 816th Strike Legion. TOG warriors hope not to repeat this horrible disaster in the future, while Renegade forces glory in having handed TOG a major defeat. TOG headquarters, recognizing that Caesar's Folly - as the planetary government renamed the world in May of '29 - would not fall right away, evolved an even more daring plan. A TOG carrier taskforce was sent to bully its way through the County's defenses and strike at the capital, Shannedam IV. (Note: it was about this time that the name of the world was changed to Defiance by popular acclaim. The change was based on numerous refusals to move the seat of the county government to a safer world in the face of TOG raiding pressures.) Though outnumbered, the Common-wealth/Renegade defenders exacted such a toll that the attack collapsed without landing a single unit on the planet's surface. However, TOG Naval and Marine forces have built an advance base on Triest, a moon of the sixth planet, Bassura. This base has at least a cruiser squadron and a wing of fighters stationed on it, along with 2 to 4 cohorts of Imperial Marines. Raiders from this base have made interstellar commerce to and from Defiance extremely difficult. Gallery Shannedam_County_Map.jpg|Shannedam Province Category:A to Z Index Category:Locations Category:Locations (Planets)